My Trip To Little Rock: Tuesday, Gentle Giants Reunited

Well, it was about time to meet David B. Treadway and his son Matt, on the way to the transmiiter down in Wrightsville!  Jerry and I kept contact with him and Jerry stopped for gasoline on "the old highway" (must have been the road, before I-530), while I ran across the road to the Dollar General for more batteries for the camcorder.  Upon exiting the store, I heard a thunderous voice: "BUD!"  When I puilled my hair back in place, I looked and there was David B. and Matt!  I wanted to run over to his truck, but I didn't want to seem overly anxious- you know how celebrities are, they get skittish with exited fans- so I quickly sauntered over and got one of the warmest greetings I'd had in a long, long time!  David treated me like I was his best friend and I was immediately at ease.

In the meantime, Jerry joined us in the parking lot; as Jerry had only been to the transmitter site once before, he told David B. he'd follow, so I jumped in Jerry's vehicle and we took off.  Now, David B. said that many years ago, he'd drive until he saw the towers line up, then he'd take the first right.  No go on this tactic, since the trees had aged along with us all, so he began going down road after scary road (you had to be there) until we got the right one (about the fourth one- NOW we know!).  Very shortly. the transmitter building hove into site and I had to catch my breath- we were finally "THERE"!  I think I sucked all the air out of Jerry's vehicle....

When we arrived, we were greeted by Gordon Stephan, who opened up for us.  I didn't know if I should laugh, cry, run around whoopin' and hollerin' or kneel and pray, I had so many emotions stirring inside of me!  There was already a technician there, working on the transmitter.  It had gone down ("lost its finals") before we got there.  Later, there was nothing to be done except order parts, so the tech tried to fire up a 5 kilowatt Harris, but no go, either; he finally had to go back to the studio for an AM Optimod, I think he told us.

I'd jumped out of the auto and tried to use the videocam (I'd never used this particular one before), but it was in "set-up" mode, so I ditched it and grabbed the camera.  I later got a video, when I figured it out.  Nonetheless, it was time to enter the mythical building....

...and, holy smokums, what a mess.  Felix McDonald would have a whole litter of cats, the place was in a shambles and dirty...

We made our way upstairs and I immediatly teared up; thank goodness for a self-focusing digital camera, I wouldn't have made very good pictures.  You'll see why, just take a look at two gentle giants being reunited after all these years:

David B. gently carressed the face of the RCA as Gordon looks on...

...and David B. listening to the soul of the transmitter as Jerry and I take another picture....

If this doesn't get to you, nothing will.

As you can see in the background, there's the current transistorized transmitter in blue, only taking up part of the far wall; the RCA commands the whole wall it is installed in.  Heck it IS the wall!  "Bigger 'n six Cadillacs", Dave Montgomery once said.

Yes, this area was cluttered and dirty, as well; heart-breaking, really.  I snapped a few more pictures from different angles, one through the glass into the transmitter:

There's David B.'s son Matt reflected in the glass.

Yes, the paint is peeling, but the surface still shines, as if the RCA still has pride in itself and its accomplishments.  This unit deserves to live in a museum, where its story can be told.

Jerry and I attempted to take a few items off this control board (not a main console, I was told) to take a picture; it was in the center of the room, directly in front of the transmitter:

(I have a telephone just like that at home! Bud)

At this point, they told me that we could actually go INTO the transmitter, so we caught up to them....

...and catch more in the next episode....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

My Trip To Little Rock: Tuesday, Touring With Jerry Sims

And what a day!  This post will be in several parts, due to the large amount of pictures snapped and experiences.....

Jerry Sims ("Sonny Martin", 1963-1967) picked me up at the motel and we immediately went to the current KAAY (and sister stations) address, at 700 Wellington Hills Rd.  We'd tried to rush there so that I could try and meet Bob Steel ("Michael O'Sullivan", 1972-1973), but we'd just missed him after his shift, as he had to immediately leave the KARN studio for another engagement.  I never had another opportunity to try and meet him.  But, I got Jerry at the entrance of the studios:

And, although I couldn't snap a picture of the studio (they seemed a bit sensitive to pictures) I did get a picture of the latest KAAY logo and one of the vans outside:

After leaving the studios, Jerry took me by the Fairgrounds, where he was perched up in a sailboat during one of the state fairs and in front of Barton Collesium:

Many may remember several posts awhile back regarding Jerry's almost perilous stay in the sailboat- it nearly flipped over, due to the large sail catching a lot of wind!  Well, here's Jerry with a photo of himself from about 1963, against the building; the current facade over his left shoulder is where he was in the sailboat so many years ago (the roof used to be totally flat):

For the original stories of Jerry in the boat, here is a link to the earlier posts:

http://mighty1090kaay.blogspot.com/search?q=sailboat

Oh, there is SO much more!  Please stay tuned!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Disaster Averted, Family Rescued!

Dear reader and visitor, you never know what you have or how good you have it until you lose someone or something...and I was nearly in that position this past Memorial Day weekend.  My family, some friends and I went to a cabin in the Conecuh National Forest (where I hunt during season) to enjoy some sun, fun, good cooking and canoeing and kayaking....

...the latter is where things became scary.  My wife, daughter (whom you saw in a previous post holding Charlie Scarbrough's bowling shirt), a friend of ours and her two boys (one my daughter's boyfriend) wanted to go canoeing and kayaking on the Yellow River.  No problem- we thought- since our family had done it numerous times before with no problem.  I floated them off at the northwest corner of the Forest, with a radio (there's NO cell phone coverage in this entire area), with instructions to page me via the radio and so I could track them.  We had a predetermined pick-up point some 7 or 8 miles downriver on Highway 4, where there was easy access via boat ramp.

Several hours later, not hearing the page, I started paging them.  No answer.  By 7:15 PM, things were getting dark, so I left for the pick-up point.  Upon arriving, no one was there...all the picknickers & swimmers were gone and I was alone...no canoe or kayak in sight.  I stood on the bridge for an hour, paging, beeping "S-O-S" on the Jimmy's horn and yelling their names...no dice.  I finally got a couple to stop, who said they just lived up the road and would call the Sheriff's Department.

The deputies arrived an hour later, at 9:30 PM.  I wanted to make a quick trip back to the cabin (4 miles away by dirt road) to see if they beached & walked out and they agreed to wait for me 20 minutes.  They weren't there, so I beat a path back, and met the deputies coming in about halfway back.  They said they had a call from someone who heard someone yelling down by the river, so we turned around and headed back.

To make a long story short, after travelling down pigtrails down to the river and covering some 15-18 miles, they finally found them...two to two-and-one-half miles above the cabin!  Seems as if the river was 'way down, from the drought conditions we were experiencing.  They had to portage over, around and across logs, stumps, sand bars and such.  When I heard the deputies sound the siren and yell on the hailer, and I heard them yelling back, I danced a jig!  But, I could hear my wife saying something about "trouble breathing" and I feared the worst.  The deputies had told me to stay on the main road, but I put that Jimmie down that pigtrail...I figured that if he could take a car down it, the Jimmy could get there.

When I got to the riverbank, I put a headlight on, had an extra light and took off throught the brush to where they were about 400 yards downriver.  When my wife heard I was there, she said my daughter was having an asthma attack and to get her meds out of the car.  Another dash through thick brush back to the Jimmy, then back to the rescue site.  Where we could get down, it was a twenty foot drop, so I slid down and they got my daughter to me in a few minutes.  I cradled her, giving her the Advair, which she drained, but she was still in severe distress.

Two of the three deputies and I got her and her boyfriend (who'd recently had knee surgery and couldn't climb) back into the canoe and they towed them back upriver to where they could get them out and to a vehicle...there was an ambulance back on the road awaiting my daughter.  I had to help the women and younger brother back up the bluff, then get back to the Jimmy, which was blocking the deputies' car- fortunately, we got back there just as they loaded her up and were about to PUSH the Jimmy out of the way.

My daughter was transported thirty or so miles away to Andalusia Hospital, where she got a second treatment (she got a first Albuterol treatment on the way) and I had to borrow our guest's Jimmy to make the trip- I'd run out a half-tank driving with the deputies and was nearly out of gas- and they escorted me to the hospital.  The lead deputy's name was Lamar, the other who found them they called "Cowboy", who was an older fellow, drove a 4-wheel-drive Dodge pickup with a Cummins engine...and he fit the bill!  Blue Jeans and a badge, he was tough!  I didn't get the other deputy's name, but ALL of them were excellent, taking care of all our needs- Lamar even scraped a tree on the way out of the woods getting my daughter to the ambulance and when my wife mentioned that, he said, "Ma'am, I don't care about this car- your daughter is more important!"

It all took about 3-1/2 hours to find and rescue them, then another couple of hours for the hospital trip, but it felt like the WHOLE weekend.  I left out a LOT of details...but one I won't leave out is what my wife told me my daughter was trying to call out, as she was in distress from the asthma: "Daddy!  Come get me, daddy!"  She couldn't yell it loud enough, but my wife told me.  I almost broke down....

They all said, "You never gave up on us!"  I never would.  I told them that it wasn't me who found them, it was the deputies (there was more of them than it was of me!), but they insisted that I never gave up.  I wouldn't, either...I didn't want to recover bodies.

Needless to say, they did the smartest thing: stayed grounded, even thought they couldn't see.  They stayed in the canoe and kayak, away from the alligators and snakes (yes, the Yellow River has a reputation for quite a few of both).  And if it took me all night, I would have kept searching.

We got back to the cabin, showered and in bed by 3:00 AM.  I awoke at 5:30 AM, unable to sleep...the realization of what I almost lost woke me up.  I got up and watched the sun rise, and thanked God for delivering my family and friends.

Folks, you never know what you have....and, like Clyde Clifford always said before sign-off: "Tell the folks you love that you love them...", because tomorrow might be too late....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

An Obituary: The House of Sight and Sound, 1971-2011

Record stores are a dying breed, and we can blame the record companies for this as much as anyone.   Every time a record store goes down, we lose a bit of our heritage, our culture.

It happened again, yesterday: after 40 years, the House of Sight and Sound in Salina, Kansas, closed its doors.  (Salina --- pronounced, "sa-line-uh" --- is a smallish town located halfway between St. Louis and Denver, on U.S. Interstate Highway 70.  It's a surprisingly interesting place: Jonnie King visits there each July for the KKOA Custom Car Show, and there's a lively arts and music scene:  Check out  www.stiefeltheatre.org  and  www.salinaartcenter.org ).

Now, I don't live in Salina, but I've been shopping at the House of Sight and Sound on-and-off since 1974 --- almost all of its 40 years of existence.  The store was primarily a music store (LPs, cassettes, 8-tracks, CDs --- heck, the last time I was in there, they still had a rack for 8-tracks!) but they also did car-stereo installation; sold head-shop and smoke supplies; and for a short time even marketed some of the Priscilla-style stuff.  It was a kind of One-Stop Shop for All Your Home Entertainment Needs.   Up to the very end, the House had a massive collection of popular music from the 50s up till almost-today.  It was the kind of place that mom, pop, the kids, even grandpa, might find something they'd like to listen to.  Lots of families shopped there.  I found a lot of stuff there.

The store's closing just yesterday really pains me, and this little posting is my obit for a unique institution that will never reappear.

The House of Sight and Sound existed due to the management genius of Tom Headlee.  The first time I visited the store, back in the fall of 1974, I expected to find the usual "head-shop-style" staff, stoned and disinterested.  Instead, there was this quiet, soft-spoken fellow with short hair and a big smile who genuinely appreciated my business.   (I remember what I bought that day: a German LP import: "UFO - Flying: One Hour Space Rock"!  This was pre-Michael Schenker by the way....)

After shopping at the House multiple times, I got to know the soft-spoken fellow, who was the manager and whose name was Tom.   I asked him, "Tom, are you from around here?"  Tom said, "Nope --- I'm from Tennessee."   So I asked, "Tom, how did you ever find your way to Salina, Kansas?"  "Well," Tom explained, "I always wanted to live in the mountains, and a friend of mine wrote me and told me that he opened a new record shop near the Rockies and he asked me to come out and take it over.  So I came here, to Salina, where the shop was".   Unfortunately,  Tom's friend failed to explain to him that Salina is a 6-hour car drive "near" the Rockies, but the deed was done, and Tom stayed in Salina and managed his friend's store.  He met his wife, married, raised some kids, and became a grandfather.   All the while, he built the coolest record store, packed from floor to ceiling with the most eclectic inventory one could imagine.  (Tom once told me, "I like the strange stuff."  To Tom, Captain Beefheart was mainstream.)

Tom certainly had an ear for 60's and 70's psychedelia, metal, and all their offspring.  This was the store's strength --- it was The Library of Congress of Acid/Hard Rock.   When the decades rolled into the 2000s, Tom struggled a bit at ordering inventory and admitted to me that he sometimes asked his grandkids for advice.  Still, there was never a problem dropping into the House and getting a replacement copy of anything by Iron Butterfly or Motorhead --- LP, cassette, CD, 8-track --- take your pick!

As the years moved on, and I found myself in Salina less and less frequently, I lost track of how the House was doing.  But the last few years, I made it a point of stopping in every few months and chatting with Tom.  He always recognized me (although not always remembering my name), dropped what he was doing, and came out from behind the counter into the aisles to chat for 5-10-15-whatever minutes.  The last year or so, the news wasn't so good: business was slow and people weren't spending their tax refunds on new car stereos like they used to do.  Tom's bad back was starting to be a problem.   Last autumn, he told me that Christmas 2010 might be the signal whether he should keep the store going or think about doing something else.

Today, I was on the road, heading home after attending a funeral, my uncle's. (There are too many funerals to attend these days, alas....)  I had just enough spare time to take the Interstate Exit at Salina and stop at the House, to say hello to Tom.   I turned into Salina, rolled down South Santa Fe Avenue, saw the House's signature pink building, but its sign was gone.   I slowed down, stared into the front window --- where were all the shelves, the stock?!   I saw someone inside.  I parked the car and hustled to the front door --- locked!

Then I saw the sign: "Our last day is May 29.  Thanks for your patronage."  Rats!  Double Rats!  I looked inside and saw Tom.  I pounded on the window.  As usual, Tom dropped what he was doing --- in this case, he was disassembling the counter that he stood behind faithfully for 40 years --- and came to the door and let me in.   I couldn't believe what I was seeing: The last of the House of Sight and Sound being disassembled and loaded out the back door into a truck.   One long-term employee was standing there, staring as if in shock.  Tom explained to me that it was time to quit --- not enough business to make ends meet.   I realized that I had just attended one funeral and had found my way to another.

I asked him, "Tom, what happens next?"  Tom replied, "I've always wanted to live in the mountains and run a record store.  I think I'm going to give it a try...."

Thanks, Tom, for the music and the memories.  I hope it all works out for you --- you deserve it!

Here's a photo of Tom and one of the last staff line-up at the House of Sight and Sound.  In the staff photo, Tom's wife, Sherry, stands to Tom's left:

---Dave S.

P.S.  The above is how I remember it.  After I came home from saying my good-byes to Tom, I checked the web and learned that the House announced its upcoming demise to the world last March.  Here are a couple of articles that were posted:

http://www.saljournal.com/news/story/Sight-and-Sound-3-9

http://www.saljournal.com/news/story/tom-headlee-talks-about-closing-3811

There is even a tribute Youtube video out there:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c53pGUGWyDk

Tom maintains a web site for the store:  houseofsightandsound.com

 P.P.S.  Thanks for the comments and corrections.  Indeed, Tom was from Colorado, not Tennessee, and according to one of the Salina Journal articles referenced above (alas now deleted), Tom scoped out Salina in advance of setting up shop there --- he wasn't completely naive about where he was going!

I am sorry that I didn't give credit for the photos to the person who posted the youtube video that contains them.  So thanks!  The video link still works.

Finally, when I last saw him, Tom mentioned moving to northern New Mexico and opening a shop "in the mountains."  I wonder how it all turned out?

My Trip To Little Rock: Monday With Charlie ("King") Scarbrough

After so many years of fantasizing as a kid, then wondering as an adult, then getting verbally kicked in the keester by Jerry Sims, I finally made it!  There were a couple of false starts, where we had "catastrophic failures" on vehicles- you know, those "little things" that eat up money- that took much of my travel stash, but we perservered and finally made the trip the week of April 18-22, 2011.  Travelling Sunday night, we arrived, as we viewed the Little Rock skyline, at our hotel at 4:30AM.  The staff immediately put us in our room (we didn't have to wait until 3:30 PM as originally quoted!), took a nap, then woke up to meet Charlie Scarbrough ("Charlie King", 1967-1969) for lunch and a bit of a tour.

Charlie came to our motel and picked us up.  What a thrill to meet another one of The Greats!  My wife and daughter and I enjoyed meeting Charlie so much, we wasted some time in the foyer just talking.  Being sleep-deprived and hungry didn't matter to us at the moment....

Upon getting into Charlie's vehicle, he presented us with a bowling shirt!  Seems as if Pat Walsh had sponsored a bowling team, something that I never knew or that no one had ever mentioned.  It's in wonderful shape and appears to have been hand-embroidered, with "Charlie" over the left breast and "Scarbrough" on the left shoulder, with "KAAY 1090" stitched in the middle of the back.  Here's my wife and daughter showing off the back (actually when we were at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, later):

And a picture of the front:

Charlie took us all over Little Rock, showing us the capital, where tax protesters were picketing, as well as where the old W. 7 Street studio used to be (more later).  There was lots to see, as well.

At lunch, Charlie was visited by a fan who recognized his voice; seems as if the fellow's brother worked with Charlie at another radio station years ago...small world!  After lunch, we were headed off to do something for the ladies, when we were coming up where Dale Seidenschwarz ("Clyde Clifford", 1966-1972) worked at U. of Akansas for Medical Studies.  I asked if I could do a "cold call" and we whipped right in.  After being led to the Media area of the hospital, the receptionist for the area called down to Dale and announced my arrival, after which she showed me to Dale's office.  I was about to hit the ceiling, I was so excited...and I'd realized I'd left the camera in the car!  Dale said to go get it, he'd take pictures with me and, after getting a little disoriented with my surroundings, I got back to his office.  The same lady who showed me in took the pictures...in the first one, we were just talking away as she snapped the picture:

...and we finally posed for another photo:

Another Great, a legend all over the world, Dale took a few more moments with me, offering information about Beaker Street and KAAY.  One other thing I didn't know was that he told me the feedline to the towers at the transmitter site had been vandalized recently for copper...the station was off the air for a few days while they got it replaced.  What a shock, but it seems some people have no respect for others' property...and possibly had no idea what they were doing to our beloved station!  I thanked him very much for his time, realizing he was very busy and he gave me his contact information.  (By the way, we were told later that the vandal was locked up safe and sound in jail....bs)

Well, I got my breath, hiked back up to the car and we went on our merry way, over toward Scott and Keo, AR, because Charlie wanted to show the girls a great antique mall over that way.  Unfortunately, it was closed on Mondays, so we just toured around looking at the storm damage (tornados and straight-line winds had done some extensive damage in the area).  We stopped by another little store and eatery called Cotham's Merchantile, but they were also closed.  Heck, since the scenery was so pretty, we thought we'd shoot some more photos, so here's Charlie and I on the porch of Cotham's and near the lake:

After stopping elsewhere for a soda pop and other refreshments, we decided we needed some real sleep.  It had been a busy afternoon, so Charlie dropped us off at the motel once again and we sat around in the reception area, just jawing for at least another hour.  Since I was on my own "with the guys" the next day, Charlie told the ladies what to look for downtown and more local attractions.  They also went digging for diamonds later Tuesday afternoon, but only found some jasper and quartz.

Next installment: Tuesday...stay tuned!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Memorial Day- A Day Of Rememberance

Please remember those who gave their all for our freedom....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

By Gosh, I FOUND IT!

Dear reader and visitor, do you remember me saying I had been haunted by a song so many months ago? Well, thanks, in part to Clyde Clifford in an indirect way, I FOUND IT! I'd been viewing Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton videos on YouTube, re: the Crossroads Festival (see the second part of Beaker Street's last day on KKPT, part 2) where Winwood and Clapton sang "Presence Of The Lord" and I just followed subsequent videos.

BINGO!"Dear Mr. Fantasy!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DYC61HzmtM&NR=1




When I heard the opening riffs, I almost jumped off my chair! This has literally haunted me, staying in my brain for years! I swear that I heard it on late night radio somewhere- maybe or maybe not on Beaker Street- but, with not doing the constant research I do for this blog and Clyde's selection of "Presence Of The Lord", I might never have found it...thanks, Clyde!

Lyrics for "Dear Mr. Fantasy" (band: Traffic):

"Dear Mister Fantasy play us a tune
Something to make us all happy
Do anything take us out of this gloom
Sing a song, play guitar
Make it snappy
You are the one who can make us all laugh
But doing that you break out in tears
Please don't be sad if it was a straight mind you had
We wouldn't have known you all these years
Oooo Ahhhhh
Oooo Ahhhhh
Oooo Ahhhhh
Oooo Ahhhhh Ahhhhh


Dear Mister Fantasy play us a tune
Something to make us all happy
Do anything take us out of this gloom
Sing a song, play guitar
Make it snappy
Yeah, yeah


[Instrumental]


Dear Mister Fantasy play us a tune
Something to make us all happy
Do anything take us out of this gloom
Sing a song, play guitar
Make it snappy
You are the one who can make us all laugh
But doing that you break out in tears
Please don't be sad if it was a straight mind you had
We wouldn't have known you all these years"

This IS music at some of its finest...I pity the kids nowadays who think rap, hip hop, et. al., is "music"....and, as music goes, Dave M. has said, "This is so 'Clyde'...."

And feel free to visit all the other YouTube links from the same concert...Winwood and Clapton have aged like fine wine, mellowing and gaining value.

A MUCH relieved Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Beaker Street's Last "Final Day", Feb. 6, 2011, Part 5

Herewith, the last part we have to offer of the last Beaker Street from KKPT, February 6, 2011.  No weeping here, dear reader- KKPT's loss is someone else's gain.  To be sure, we will continue to archive past Beaker Street programs here on The Mighty 1090 Blogspot to enjoy any time you wish, 24 hours a day, 365 and a quarter days a year...all due to the magic of archiving and computers and the hard work of the founders of this blog and of YOU, dear reader, who have sent in copies of your recordings.

Whether studio recordings or off-the-air airchecks, all are valuable.  Yes, those needle pops on the LPs, the slight atmospheric fade of signal (yes, they occasionally happened, as with any radio signal, even the Gentle Giant!), all created a wonderful sense of nostalgia listening to them today.  You better bet I'll continue searching not only for other Beaker Street material, but for other KAAY audio, as well.

So, with that said, please enjoy this last hour of the last Beaker Street on KKPT...compliments of the computer work of Dave S.:



or download here

(or  stream/download  from the audio archive page)

For a playlist of this day's last broadcast please see this link:

http://beakerstreet.com/feb0611.htm

KAAY, 1966 to 1985...after a pause, KLAZ, then to KZLR (what are they now?), to Magic 105, to KKPT, 2011...it was a long run.  Yes, I wish Clyde had kept a journal....

...but, Clyde mentioned that he's still scheming...stay tuned!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Beaker Street's Last "Final Day", Feb. 6, 2011, Part 4

Dave S. was one of the lucky ones, able to hear this as he downloaded it.  He mentioned that the last couple of hours got "pretty interesting".  I agree and hope you find them so, as well!

What more can be said?  Beaker Street has been an important part of many a listener's musical "growing-up", for lack of better words.  Yes, it has changed and evolved over the years, but Clyde has always brought an interesting mix of music to the table...or, the radio, as it were.  No, it's not been for everyone, but it definitely has had a broad following.  Clyde always knew how to create that interesting, magical mix...so enjoy:




or download here


(or  stream/download  from the audio archive page)

My thanks to Dave  for all his hard work!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Beaker Street's Last "Final Day", Feb. 6, 2011, Part 3

And we continue on with Hour 3 of the last Beaker Street on KKPT.  In this segment, there is an interesting final interview with Scott Reed, Wil Warren and Mark Arouh of Little Rock Classics/Lost Classics/Watcher of the Skies, who interacted with Clyde during Beaker Street in the past.

Many, many people protested to KKPT in phone calls, e-mails and such --- myself included --- but the General Manager never budged, nor replied.  Ego, perhaps?

Such is corporate radio at all levels.  One boss leaves, another takes his place and will "show them all who's boss", in sometimes inane moves and decisions.

Clyde had mentioned that, if it hadn't been for management's decision, he'd have been happy to live out Beaker Street's last days at KKPT.  He got along very well with everyone there.  Such was not to be.  Still, through the miracle of audio and computer archiving, we can continue to enjoy (with breaking hearts) this event, as it unfolds:



or download here

(or  stream/download  from the audio archive page)

Thanks, Dave, for the audio help!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Beaker Street's Last "Final Day", Feb. 6, 2011, Part 2

And we continue here with Hour 2 of the last Beaker Street on KKPT.  Although this was the eve of the Super Bowl, Clyde mentioned that he wasn't interested...and so weren't many other Beaker Street fans who listened and called in.

Come to think about it, for many of us, there was nothing more important than this event, the last day of Beaker Street:




or download here

(or  stream/download  from the audio archive page)

Thanks go again to Dave S. and his audio and computer skills!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

P.S. If this link is still up, here's a YouTube video of Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood playing together at the Crossroads Festival...the song, as in this segment, is "Presence Of The Lord":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98XqT4kBWT4

Beaker Street's Last "Final Day", Feb. 6, 2011, Part 1

February 6, 2011 was the last "last day" of Beaker Street on KKPT.  I say "last day", since we've seen Beaker Street have a final day here and there on different radio stations.  Especially dear to our hearts was April 3, 1985, which we labelled "The Last Day" in earlier posts.  A lot of hearts were rent then, when KAAY went to be with God, as Clyde said.

At the time I write this, Beaker Street has found no home; there have been some offers, but none nearby, travel-wise, to be attractive to Clyde.  Maybe something has changed in the meantime.  Clyde did mention in an interview that he was enjoying Sunday nights with family.

Nonetheless, Beaker Street was dumped by KKPT's new General Manager, saying it "wasn't profitable".  I've heard that what's in it's place hasn't garnered any great ratings....

As promised earlier in the year, here is the latest "last" Beaker Street, in five parts...this is Part One, compliments of Dave S. and his intrepid skill in capturing and archiving the audio.



or download here

(or  stream/download  from the archive page)

Enjoy!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Happy Mother's Day!

Remember all the things Mom did for you?

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

A Day At KAAY #13, May 18, 1971

"Back to the Bible, back to the Bible...."

We have reached the very last episode of Pat Walsh's archive of KAAY's May 18, 1971 broadcast.

This is the religious segment that was on Jonnie King's shift; this audio segment runs from 6:30 to 7:20 PM.

Again, as mentioned before, certain radio experts said KAAY's varied format wouldn't work.  This was proven to be wrong over and over.  Top 40, some country music, older music from the '50s and '60s, Marvin Vines' Farm Report and the religious blog all worked together and folks rarely tuned away from KAAY at all during the day.  Only when FM became popular did KAAY's AM broadcasts wane and the station was sold in 1985 to a religious interest.

(or stream/download here from the archive page)

Remember the great tune, "Turn Your Radio On"?  I wonder how many folks listened to radio with the likes of my old Philco here:

My sincere thanks to Russell Wells for preserving and contributing these valuable contributions that made up "A Day At KAAY"!   Also my gratitude for Dave S. for his valuable time loading and linking the audio; our library continues to grow and is larger than we ever expected!  May it continue to grow beyond everyone's wildest expectations!

If YOU have some audio to contribute, as well as any memorabelia of any type, it is ALL important!  Please contact me at my e-mail address below to make arrangements to have YOUR contribution(s) posted here!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Central Arkansas Library System Five Year Anniversary!

You may know them as the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, where I personally had two entries (thanks to The Greats and other sources) on KTHS and KAAY.  I just received information of their anniversary:

"Hello everyone. Can you believe that the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture is five years old? Neither can I. It seems like just yesterday that the staff was sitting around a computer with their fingers crossed, hoping that the site wouldn't crash when it launched.

During its first month of operation, the EOA received 46,960 visits. In April 2011, the site received 239,655 visits. Since the site launch, it has had 105,032,153 hits-that's right, more than 105 million hits. The response to the encyclopedia has been dramatically larger than we ever envisioned. I hope you are as proud of the EOA as we are.

I always say that the EOA is my first-born child. Today, I'm writing to you (its godparents) to say that baby needs a new pair of shoes...and a college fund.

We are getting ready to go after grant money to do a major expansion of the EOA website, and we need a pool of matching funds for these grant applications. As part of the expansion, we want to create a mobile version of the website for smart phones and other mobile devices and launch an application that will work with GPS-enabled devices to locate county-specific information-this new technology will allow a user standing anywhere in Newton County, for example, to easily see all entries and media related to that county. We hope that this new technology will be as well received as the original EOA website, and that it will help to launch or supplement local efforts to encourage heritage tourism and education.

Please consider making a gift to the EOA in honor of five successful years of making Arkansas-history information readily available to the public.

Send donations to:

Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture
Attn: Anna Lancaster
100 S. Rock Street
Little Rock, AR 72201

(make checks payable to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture)

Or click on this link to make a credit card/PayPal donation through the CALS website:

http://www.cals.org/donation/donation.html.

Please note that you must choose Encyclopedia of Arkansas from the drop-down menu under Please select an Endowment.

All donations are tax deductible under 170 (c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

Thank you again for your support-past, present, and future.

Cordially,

Nathania Sawyer
Senior Editor
Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture"

(About the Butler Center

The Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, a department of the Central Arkansas Library System, is located in the Arkansas Studies Institute on the campus of the Main Library. For more information visit, www.butlercenter.org. All events are free and open to the public.)

QUICK LINKS

Our website: http://www.cals.org/

Events Calendar: http://www.cals.org/events/calendar.php

Latest News: http://www.cals.org/news/index.html

Browse the Catalog: http://encore.cals.lib.ar.us/iii/encore/home?lang=eng

Contact Information:
Kathryn Heller
phone: (501) 320-5717
email: kheller@cals.org

When I was on vacation in Little Rock a couple of weeks ago, we (The Greats and I) were able to donate some more materials when we visited the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies.  When the folks there saw some of the items, they were obviously in awe.  I hope that we as a blog and as individuals can continue to donate materials and information to them for a long time to come.

If you feel led to donate, please do so!  As mentioned above, donations are tax deductable.  Thank you!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

"Tin Can Alley", By Barry Mac!

Folks, if you remember awhile back when we mentioned that Barry Mac did "Radio Yesterday" at KAAY in the latter years, then a similar program called "Tin Can Alley" at another radio station...you're in luck.  Even though Barry's no longer (yet) on a radio station, he's offering us the programs here on the Mighty 1090 KAAY blog!

These programs are similar in that Barry plays period music from KAAY's '62-'85 era and intersperses KAAY advertisements and jingles in the programs, just as they would in original programming.  It's a fresh look as it used to be, in a modern way.

We hope you'll enjoy Barry's programs; just look on the right-hand side bar and click on "Tin Can Alley" and enjoy the shows!  Thanks to Dave S. for his audio linkage wizardry, as well!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

A Day At KAAY #12, May 18, 1971

Ladies and gentlemen!
From Little Rock:
Jonnie King!
KAAY!

He's your King, and your King loves you!  Jonnie said this quite a lot- and meant it!  This segment of the evening is only a little over thirty-one minutes long, from 6:00 PM on, preceding the nightly religious block; he took his regular show back up at 8:00 PM.  Jonnie's shift went from 6:00 until 11:00 PM, when Beaker Street with Clyde Clifford took over.

You'll notice Mitch Michaels (Nick Markel) opening this segment with a weather report of a tornado watch in three Arkansas counties.  Something unusual to listen for: there are several "blips" of possible news audio under the first song of the hour!  Maybe some of those open sliders on the board while cueing up carts, maybe?

Jonnie sounds as good today as he did in this broadcast; we speak over the phone plenty these days.  What a great pleasure it is to speak regularly with The Greats to whom I listened so many years ago!



or download here

(or stream/download here from the archive page)

One more segment to go in this remarkable series saved for us by Russell Wells --- stayed tuned for Part 13 !

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Good Trip, Bad News

Folks, I finally realized my almost-lifelong dream of going to Little Rock, visiting KAAY and the transmitter site.  Jerry Sims ("Sonny Martin 1963-1967"), David B. Treadway (the last Doc Holiday and Program Director), Charlie Scarbrough ("Charlie King", 1967-1969), Felix McDonald (engineer for KTHS and Chief Engineer for KAAY) and Barry McCorkindale ("Barry Mac", latter years) were all great hosts and tour guides.  I had a blast with them all and will recount the trip in posts to come.  However, I bear bad news....

While we were at the transmitter site, we were informed by Citadel personnel that the building is to be bulldozed within the next year, probably before the end of 2011.  We are posing questions as to what may be saved, but no information is forthcoming.

More later as news develops.

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Happy KAAY Anniversary, Jonnie King!

I want to interrupt the regularly-scheduled retro-program to commemorate Jonnie King's anniversary at KAAY, back on April 21, 1969- congratulations, Jonnie!

I wish I could have had just a bit of audio from Gary Gears, announcing Jonnie, inserted for you to enjoy, BUT if you go to some of Jonnie's airchecks here, you'll hear Gary announcing Jonnie- just type in "Jonnie King" in the upper left-hand corner search box and look for a couple of 1972 airchecks.  In fact, since we're commemorating Jonnie's anniversary at KAAY, please enjoy ALL his airchecks, while you're at it!

Jonnie is full of wonderful energy, enthusiasm and encouragement.  Every time he and I speak, he encourages me- not only for this blog- but in every phase of my life.  Jonnie, like his mentors, pours his energy into those around him.  I am richer for this outpouring of Jonnie's encouragement.

Happy Anniversary, Jonnie!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

A Day At KAAY #11, May 18, 1971

We continue our presentation of the 13-part series of Pat Walsh's KAAY transcriptions, saved by Russell Wells for our listening enjoyment.

This segment of the day, from 5:00 to 6:00 PM, opens with Mitch Michaels (Nick Markel) ending the news, which opens again for Mike McCormick (Barry Wood).  The deejays at KAAY had a lot of freedom to play different types of music and this opening song is no exception.  Buck Owens and The Buckaroos perform; you'll most likely remember Buck Owens from the TV comedy show "Hee Haw!"

Enjoy once again the contribution of Russell Wells and the audio work of Dave S.



or download here

(or stream/download here from the archive page)

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

THE KAAY-KXOK CONNECTION...

                       
Don Pietromonaco, KXOK's Johnny Rabbitt, passed away in California on April 18, 1997.

Don was my friend & mentor. I started working with him in 1965 at the old KXOK Radio Park Studios, and he was my strongest supporter & eternal confidant as I left to head for my first station in September of 1967.  And was truly excited when, on April 21, 1969, I did my first show at KAAY...throughout his career he'd never worked at a 50KW.

But, he was always urging me to get to a "bigger market", sending me Info of jobs around the country, wanting me to get back out to California after he relocated there from KRIZ in Phoenix. He invited me back out there time-after-time, and, when I visited, tried to find openings in the market at stations I could work at. Again, he was so happy for me when I moved to WDRQ/Detroit as, at the time, it was the 5th largest market in the country.

Don Pietromonaco was not only one of the most talented, creative Radio Personalities (when those words REALLY meant something) to ever sit behind a mike...he was one of the kindest, and most generous friends to ever enter my life.

Accordingly, I've put together a Special Tribute Page that contains his Rare "KXOK RABBITT PEPSI DEMO" from 1966. I've expanded it into a Special Tribute Page with much info, pix, documented dates, etc.

(One of the reasons I'm so proud of this Demo is that it contains a show I created for Rabbitt that took advantage of the "Batman" craze...I called it "Batrab & Goono".  You'll have to hear it to understand how Don's alter-ego, Bruno J. Grunion, adds to the mix !)

ALSO, I've pulled out some rare personal candid pix from my Archives that I've never shared before, and those too are documented & dated...with info on each one.  IN FACT, the one you see at the Top of this thread is from the KXOK Studio: Gary Lewis, me, and, Johnny Rabbitt the night of April 18, 1966: Exactly 45 years ago !)

I thought today would be the day to properly "Launch" the Page and here's a Link that will get you there: http://www.jonnieking.net/

And, I'm honored to share it with you, all of my KAAY friends who've been my "faithful companions" all of these years.



Many thanks,

Jonnie King

April 18, 2011

Russell Wells' Tape Comments

My recollection brings up an incident during a rewind back in '92 when I did a spot dub of each jock. At 3600 feet, this tape stock was thinner than tissue paper ... and even with the utmost in TLC, it both stretched and unraveled. I fixed the tape, but at the expense of a couple of minutes' worth of audio (present on two hours each side of the KAAY and neighboring KARK recording).

The occasional dropouts and distortion? The fact is the tape was a "Concertape" - the low-end Radio Shack brand. I've read a few horror stories about Concertape reels' tendency to shed and gum up a deck, but I think sheer luck otherwise carried the day.

(It's the height of irony that a cheap tape stock intended for speech recording carried the brand name CONCERT Tape!)

Reel tape recorded at 1-7/8 ips (inches per second for the radio-impaired and various young punks out there) typically had a compromised sound quality. Sort of like the difference in recording VHS tape at the 6-hour speed (SLP) vs. the standard 2-hour SP mode. We have 12 glorious hours of archive here, alas at the expense of hearing just how truly awesome that RCA BT50 transmitter sounded. At least one can hear a smidgen of that quality, if not the full deal.

As for that old deck I used, I truly believe the gods of radio past were keeping her alive just long enough to get through this big project. :-/

*********

I'm just old enough to remember ESSO gasoline, and how confused this young'un was seeing ENCO branded gas in Alabama, while it was ESSO across the line in Tennessee. Same logo, same "E" style, but different name.

Most of you know what became of Esso in the U.S.: it became Exxon in (I believe) late 1972. Exxon still markets as Esso in Canada and elsewhere.

--Russell

Russell, I am also amazed at how some analog media has held up all these years.  Phil North and Mark Larsen had found some old tapes that survived almost 40 years of storage!  Mark had also found parts for his reel-to-reel deck on the Web, repaired it and dubbed his audio over for us.  Phil (Eric Chase) already had things in place, I suppose, in his studios to dub his tapes over.  Phil's tapes were stored in an attic, if I remember correctly...Mark's, I can't remember.

I also have in climate-controlled storage many (non-KAAY related) tapes; hopefully, they'll still be "there" when I need them....

As for you mp3 and iPod generation out there, radio stations used reel-to-reel tapes in many instances, as well as cart tapes, etc.  Barry Mac told me that much of the commercials and jingles you hear here are gleaned from hundreds of tapes found at the KAAY transmitter.  It has taken him many, many hours of tender loving care to build the archive he has.

Thanks to ALL who share those archives and tape contents with us!  Without you, this important historical audio would be lost!

Thank you, Russell!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

(P.S. I have often taken a recording outside on a clear starry night, turned it on and enjoyed the aircheck while looking up at the sky...the occasional atmospheric fade, noisy crackle and co-channel interference made the airchecks sound JUST LIKE the station did when I was a youngster! Bud)

A Day At KAAY #10, May 18, 1971

We're at Part 10 of this 13-part archive of Pat Walsh's audio tapes of a "day of the life" of KAAY !

In this segment, 4:00 to 5:00 PM, Mitch Michaels airs the news, as well as sports later in the hour and Mike McCormick (Barry Wood) is again the deejay.

I thought an interesting phrase being used this day is, "...channel Ten-Nine-Oh!".  I remember hearing A.J. Lindsey, I believe on Tony Warner's program saying that a deejay would say something.  Pat Walsh would come thundering down the hall, burst into the control room and yell, "What did you say?"  The deejay, fearing for his job, would shakily repeat the phrase.  Pat yelled out, "I like that!  Keep saying that!" and would run back out....WHEW!

You may have noticed that occasionally, there is wobble in the recordings, especially this one.  These hours were recorded directly from studio tape and reel-to-reel machines today are getting old and tired.  Our good friend Russell Wells was able to play these and other tapes and transfer them over to digital format for all of us to enjoy.  He mentioned to me that, on the last rewind, the machine finally gave out, so he barely got all the tape transferred before failure!

Hey, speaking of ads here and there, does anyone remember ESSO gas?



or download here

(or stream/download here from the archive page)

Thanks again to Russell Wells' collection and to Dave S.!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

A Day At KAAY #9, May 18, 1971

Here's Mike McCormick!  Also known as Michael J. McCormick, this was Barry Wood, who left in 1972.  Opening this hour, 3:00 to 4:00 PM, was news person Mary Donald (Delores Handy)!  She's at the news desk for a couple of times, then Mitch Michaels takes back over.

Seems like I remember Jonnie King mentioning that he'd tease her while she was on the air, but she was a trouper, never laughing or breaking stride.  For more on Mary Donald, do a search on her in the upper left-hand corner of the blog.

I'm also enjoying many of the advertisements in these hours...many we've heard before when Barry Mac has contributed them.  One such on this segment (and over this day's broadcast) was a concert ad for Bloodrock and Steppenwolf, for May 21st at the Barton Auditorium.

Please enjoy this latest installment, compliments of the audio help Dave S. lends to the blog and the audio collection of Russell Wells!



or download here

(or stream/download here from the archive page)

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)

Dave M's Best On-Air Joke, In His Opinion

Quite possibly the all time greatest on air joke was when KTHS changed formats and call letters to KAAY. The "Baby Elephant Walk" was played back to back and over and over again, non stop, while the Little Rock telephone book was read on the air. It certainly drew a lot of attention to the station, and was the talk of the town for many following days. (Not on April 1, though).

A recording of part of this can be found elsewhere on this blog -

(I believe this is what Dave is mentioning...check this link bs)

http://mighty1090kaay.blogspot.com/2009/07/more-about-startup-of-kaay.html

(Although this actually happened on Labor Day weekend in 1962, this WAS a pretty good prank! The saddest joke was when KAAY "went to be with God" on April 3, 1985 bs)

/DM/

Dave M.'s April Fool Joke Entry

Probably the best "joke" we played was the night we changed format on KAAY's FM sister station, KLPQ (at the time). A good joke, certainly an attention getter, and not on April 1.

We began playing "Baby Elephant Walk" and "We will Rock You" back to back, and over and over again. The reason for playing Baby Elephant Walk was because that was what was played over and over again as the announcers read the Little Rock phone book on the air, when KTHS changed to KAAY.

Needless to say, we did get some phone calls asking us what the $&@# was going on. One listener actually called the Little Rock police to "go to the radio station and see what was wrong". When the police officer arrived, he was invited in, shown the studios, and clued-in as to what was going on.

KLPQ eventually became KKPT in Little Rock, and is now a Classic Rock format station.

//DM//

Radio Station April Fool's Day Jokes

I recently asked around what some of the April Fool's Day jokes folks had been involved in or seen or heard of at any radio station, not only KAAY. Here are the entries:

Charlie Okle, friend of Tommy Riggs: "Well, here's mine. The two main stations here in Pine Bluff, KCLA and KPBA switched announce staff for the day a year or so before I became an announcer. About 1960. Totally confused the audiences and lit up the phones!!!"

And from a couple of contributors on Radio-Info Boards:

"In 1987, Zoo 98's Uglee Jerry and his wife swapped with KSSN's Bob Robbins. I don't remember much about it except that we had to keep telling Bob how to pronounce the artist's names. He was pretty game for it, though."

(Bob Robbins [Bob Spears] moved from KAAY at the end over to KSSN and has been there ever since. bs)

And, from Rich Moellers on Radio-Info Boards:

"I remember the Uglees and Bob switching. If memory serves, Uglee Jerry said he was Bob Robbins, and his wife said, 'and I'm Mrs. Bob.' Of course, we get the annual memo from legal counsel at corporate about stunting - kinda takes some of the fun out of it!"

Someone from Georgia adds, "Two stations in Valdosta, Ga switched morning shows. One was a hot ac station, one was a rock station. The rock guys were saying, 'I know none of this music!!!' It was pretty funny!"

Now, as much fun as folks had at KAAY, I haven't found anyone who can admit to having pranked anyone...as David B. Treadway said, "For the life of me, I can't remember any April Foolishness on-air at KAAY. 'Course, I might have been taking everything too seriously at the time..."

Suffice it to say, we'll leave it there, as the staff at KAAY worked HARD at making the station as fun and interesting to us, the listener! We can be grateful for that and will always remember their efforts!

And, with that, have a happy April Fool's Day! Watch your back!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)